Illuminated telescope sight



H. B. MARIS ILLUMINATED TELE'SCOPEy SIGHT Filed July 15, 1931 Oct. 24, 1933.

Patented Oct. 24, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEL Harry B. Maris,

Washington, D. C.

Application July 15, 1931. Serial No. 550,933

1 Claim.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) My invention relates broadly to apparatus for illumination of obscure points that cannot practically be lighted by an ordinary light, and more particularly to a device for illuminating sights.

The principal object of my invention is to produce a means for obtaining illuminated sights for naval gun telescopes.

Another object of my invention is to provide an illuminated sight for all types of sight work where natural illumination is poor.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a quartz sight to take the place of the ordinary cross hairs in a telescope.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following specification and claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a view partly in section of the several parts of my sight system as applied to a telescope;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail view of the rack and pinion for adjusting the position of the sight;

Figures 5, 6 and 'l are modifications of the quartz light conducting rod.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 designates a quartz light conducting rod drawn to an almost infinitesimal size at point P. 2 is a lamp for illuminating one end of the quartz rod 1. The light from lamp 2 is focused on to the end of the quartz rod by a condensing lens 3 carried in lens barrel 4. 5 indicates a member comprising a metallic socket for lamp 4 and a rheostat housing. The metallic socket 5 is clamped into the lamp casing which constitutes the lower part of the main sight frame member 21. The quartz rod 1 is supported at its lower end in a member 12, where it is clamped or secured by means of cement or the like. The quartz rod carrier 12 is adapted to be moved in any direction for the purpose of adjusting the position of the sight point P.

The screw 6 is used for adjusting the position of the quartz rod 1 lengthwise or along the axis of the telescope. Rotation of the shaft 7 effects the adjustment of the height of the quartz rod l. The quartz rod carrier may be locked in adjusted position at any height by means of the set screw 8 carried by slide member 12 and adapted to be set against the quartz rod carrier. The quartz rod may be moved crosswise of the telescope by means of the screw member 9. Carried on the height adjusting shaft 7 is a pinion 10 which meshes with rack teeth 11 on the quartz rod carrier 12. The quartz rod carrier 12 is adapted to slide in the slide member 12. When the quartz rod is to be moved in a direction lengthwise of the telescope, the slide member 12 and the quartz rod carrier 12 move together as a unit.

A resistance unit is shown at 13 comprising an annular ring of insulating material on which resistance wire is wound helically, one end of which is aixed to binding post 17. Interiorly of this ring is a plug 14 of insulating material carrying a contact member 26, one end of which engages the center contact of the lamp 2, while the other end thereof engages or contacts with the resistance wire of said ring. A rotatable adjusting knob 14 is provided for turning the plug 14 and associated contact member 26 for varying the effective length of the resistance wire utilized in the circuit. This adjusting knob is fastened to the member 14 by means of a screw 15. The adjusting knob 14 is maintained in position with respect to the rheostat housing 5 by means of an expanding ring 15 which permits the knob to be freely rotated, yet not permittng axial movement thereof. Binding post 16 is attached to the metallic socket and rheostat housing member 5 and together with binding post 17 form the two terminals for lamp 2 to which the leads from a source of electrical potential are fastened. The sight frame member 21 is provided at its upper end with a U-shaped cradle or fork member for engaging the telescope barrel 25. The telescope barrel 25 is maintained in position against the sight frame member by means of a semicircular band 20 which is clamped around said telescope to said sight frame member by means of screws 18 and 19. Reference numeral 24 indicates a focusing arrangement for said telescope which forms no part of the invention.

The sight member may be removed from the telescope by the simple expedient of removing screws 18 and 19 and withdrawing the quartz rod 1 through the aperture 27 in the barrel 25. Telescopes not provided with this quartz sight may be readily fitted therewith by providing a single hole in the telescope barrel, such as 27, then inserting the quartz rod 1 therethrough and clamping the ring 20 to the main frame of the sight. The point P of quartz rod 1 may now be adjusted so that it occupies a position soi Yce

on the axis of collimation of the telescope and adjacent to the plane of the image cast by the objective lens, the point P being so directed that light therefrom is transmitted toward the occular of the telescope. This sight may be used either in combination with the well-known cross hair sights or it may be used alone.

Figures 5, 6 and '7 show modications of the quartz rod structure which may be substituted for the structure shown in Figure 1. Figure 5 shows the rod 1 composed of three parts including three right-angle turns, while Figure 7 shows a rod having two right-angle turns. Obviously the rod may be made in any number of sections and with the necessary turns as the need of the case may require, as the light entering the end of the rod does not pass out through the sides of the rod so long as the angle of incidence of the light on these sides is less than the critical angle, but is maintained at practically its original intensity and is transmitted through the rod by being held within the rod by internal reections.

The patent to Kochs et al. 421,585 of February 12, 1890, shows a light conducting rod similar in some respects to the rods employed in this sight, but the rod 1 differs therefrom in that the point P is drawn to substantially a mathematical point and is then ground oir so that the light will leave the rod at point P in a cone coaxial with the axis of the telescope.

The operation of the device is as follows: Light from a distant source is collected by the objective lens of the telescope (not shown) and is passed through the telescope barrels 25 and 23 and the intervening lenses to the eye, while light from the lamp 2 is passed through lens 3 and quartz rod 1 to point P and thence to the eye. The lamp 2 is illuminated to such a degree that the light falling on the eye from point P is stronger than the light from the ield of View. Thus, the light point P may be used as a sighting point in lieu of cross hairs or it may be used to illuminate cross hairs. Since the intensity of the light at P can be varied to give any desired illumination for observation against the sky or sea in full sunlight or against the blackest night landscape, the sight is suitable for all types of sight work such as in astronomical telescopes, surveyors instruments, gun sights, etc.

` The quartz sight can be made finer than the g pontmqimwprdinaryAcrossAhairs; it can be V"tly adjusted and as securely xed in the center of the iield; therefore it can be made more accurate than the ordinary cross hair for daylight observations, aside from the fact that it can be illuminated for night work.

It will be understood that the above description and accompanying drawing comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of my invention, and that various changes in construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claim, and without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention.

The herein described invention may be man ufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalties thereon.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is:

An article of manufacture comprising in combination a frame member, a quartz rod carried on said frame member, the inner end of said rod being drawn to a point and bent over tn direct Ilight issuing from said point along the optic axis of the sight toward theneyve-piece-thereof, means for adjusting ,thepstion of said quartz rod with respect to said frame member, a source of light located Ain line with, but displaced from, said quartz rod supported by said frame member, and means for adjusting the intensity of said source of light supported by said frame member.

HARRY B. MARIS. 

